1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a light blocking member having variable transmittance, a display panel including the same, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Background
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of the most commonly used flat panel displays, and it includes two substrates with electrodes formed thereon and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. In the LCD, a voltage is applied to the electrodes to realign liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer to thereby regulate the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer.
Among LCDs, an LCD having a structure in which field generating electrodes are respectively formed on two display panels is widely used. A plurality of pixel electrodes and thin film transistors are arranged in a matrix format on one of the two display panels. The other display panel includes red, green, and blue color filters, a light blocking member, and one common electrode, which covers the entire surface of the other display panel.
However, in a liquid crystal display where the pixel electrodes are disposed on a different display panel than the light blocking member and the color filters, it may be difficult to align the pixel electrodes and the color filters or the pixel electrodes and the light blocking member to each other without generating an alignment error. To solve this problem, a structure in which the pixel electrodes, the light blocking member, and the color filters are formed on the same display panel has been provided. That is, the light blocking member is formed on a thin film transistor display panel including the pixel electrodes to produce a display device having a high aperture ratio and high transmittance.
When the light blocking member is formed on the same display panel as the pixel electrodes and thin film transistors, the light blocking member may cover the thin film transistors, data lines, and a portion of each pixel electrode. However, the light blocking member blocks light at the portion where the thin film transistors are disposed such that it may be difficult to observe several constituent elements of the thin film transistor display panel such as where the thin film transistors, the data lines, and the pixel electrodes are formed during such processes as a developing process, a manufacturing process, or a defect inspection process of the display panel.